Eponine's Tale

Prologue

"It won't take you too long to forget," the man snarled slightly at her parents as he led Cosette away.

Eponine smirked slightly as the wound a strand of her curly red-brown hair around a finger. She hadn't been very fond of Cosette. Then another thought occurred to her. Who would she torment now that Cosette was gone? And who would do all of the work?

Whatever. Her parents would find someone else. Her life was perfect.

At eight years old, Eponine Thenardier had everything she wanted. She was pretty, spoiled, and adored by her parents. She didn't have a care in the world. She had no reason to.

And it was the same for her sister Azelma. Their lives were perfect. And now Cosette was gone, and her parents had another 1500 francs. They were richer than ever, and the inn was a brilliant success, popular with many people. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Or so she thought…

One Month Later

Eight year old Eponine sat in her room crying, her hand on her stinging cheek. Things had changed since Cosette had been taken away for 1500 francs. She'd been wrong about someone else being brought in to replace Cosette. The replacements appeared to be her and Azelma instead.

But it had only been for small things before. Not fetching water. But today, her mother had told her to fetch water from the well, and she had refused. The bucket was heavy! She knew that, not because she'd done it before, but because she'd seen Cosette struggling before.

But her mother had insisted, so she'd tried. But she'd tripped with the heavy bucket, spilling it inside the inn, and her mother had slapped her. But that wasn't the worst part: her mother had, in the midst of her screaming, called her Cosette.

Eponine was sure that she had been drinking. Their mother had been drinking a lot recently, ever since Cosette had left and the work had become harder. The loss of Fantine's money wasn't helping much either, despite the 1500 francs from the man who had taken Cosette.

One month ago, everything had been perfect. But that day, things began to change forever.